


Happy Birthday

by Leahelisabeth (fortheloveofcamelot)



Series: Twinyards Appreciation Week [25]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Birthday, Brotherly Bonding, Conversations, Gen, Parenthood, Quarantine, Skype
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:53:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27388258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortheloveofcamelot/pseuds/Leahelisabeth
Summary: Andrew waited another few seconds before accepting the video call.  His brother’s face filled the screen.  They sat there in awkward silence for a while.  Andrew had always been better at doing this in person.  He and Aaron could sit around and do things in each other’s vicinity and call that bonding time.  Now, on opposite sides of the country, and with a fucking global pandemic keeping them from travelling, they might just have to talk to one another.
Relationships: Aaron Minyard & Andrew Minyard
Series: Twinyards Appreciation Week [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/858608
Comments: 6
Kudos: 74
Collections: Twinyards Appreciation Week 2020





	Happy Birthday

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Twinyards Appreciation Week day 6: Aaron and Andrew.

Andrew took a deep breath as his phone started buzzing in his hand.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Neil said, leaning over to kiss his cheek before getting up and leaving the room.

Andrew waited another few seconds before accepting the video call. His brother’s face filled the screen. They sat there in awkward silence for a while. Andrew had always been better at doing this in person. He and Aaron could sit around and do things in each other’s vicinity and call that bonding time. Now, on opposite sides of the country, and with a fucking global pandemic keeping them from travelling, they might just have to talk to one another.

“Hi,” Aaron said after a while.

Andrew nodded in lieu of returning the greeting.

“How are you?” Aaron asked.

Andrew shrugged.

“I saw your last game,” Aaron continued. “Your season seems to be going well.”

Andrew had no words to express how much he did not want to talk about Exy, but he also had no better ideas. “It is,” he said. “Defense still needs work but we’re improving.”

Aaron snorted. “Like you even need defense. I saw all those impossible saves you made.”

Andrew felt a warmth in the pit of his stomach. “I wouldn’t have to make impossible saves if my backliners would do their job.”

“Yeah, you must miss the backliners on your old team,” Aaron said.

“Matt and Nicky were okay,” Andrew mused.

“Hey,” Aaron protested lightly.

Andrew felt the tension leave his shoulders as he found himself on familiar ground. “Fishing for compliments, Aaron?” he asked, raising one eyebrow.

“Of course not; I don’t care what you think,” Aaron scoffed. “Must be weird playing to an empty stadium though.”

Andrew shrugged. “I wish they’d done it sooner. No one needs to see me in person.”

“You don’t miss the screaming fans?” Aaron teased.

Andrew shuddered. “Hell no. I think Neil misses pissing off journalists in person though.”

“I bet,” Aaron snorted.

Silence fell for a moment as Andrew searched for something else to say. “How’s...work?” he asked.

“Busy,” Aaron replied. “We had freezing rain last night and the ER was flooded with people from minor car accidents. But the hospital has been a pretty good fit so far.”

“Good; that’s good,” Andrew said. “You’re staying safe?”

“Yeah,” Aaron replied. “I’m being careful.”

Andrew nodded. “How are Katelyn and the girls?” he asked.

Aaron visibly melted. It was disgusting. “They’re doing well,” he said. “We’re both exhausted. Rebecca is mostly sleeping through the night now, but Mandy is still up to eat every two hours like clockwork.”

Andrew winced. “That sounds awful.”

“It’s better than it was. Rebecca doesn’t wake up anymore when Mandy cries. When they first came home, I swear they’d trade off so one of them was always awake.” Aaron shook his head fondly.

“I wish we could come meet them,” Andrew said, in a rare moment of emotional vulnerability.

Aaron looked pleased. “They’re sleeping right now but we can look in on them,” he said, hopping up from his place on the couch and going into a dimly lit room. He switched his camera from front-facing and held it over the crib so Andrew could see his nieces.

They were lying next to each other. One of them was swaddled up tight and sleeping peacefully. The other had escaped from her blanket and had one arm above her head and the other resting on her sister’s face. Both of them were taking quick, tiny breaths and, as Andrew watched, the one that was sprawling shifted and grinned a toothless grin.

Andrew’s breath caught in his throat. He didn’t say a word until Aaron crept back out of the room and resettled himself on the couch.

“She smiled,” Andrew said.

“Yeah, she does that,” Aaron said, his face soft. “Katelyn says it’s just gas, but sometimes she’s looking me right in the eye when she does it and I know it’s for me.”

“Ugh, fatherhood has made you sappy,” Andrew said.

Aaron shrugged. “I don’t even care, that’s how sappy I am.”

“Gross,” Andrew said.

“Hey, I’ve seen you with your cats,” Aaron protested.

“Because my cats are the best,” Andrew said, not even bothering to deny it.

Aaron laughed, but didn’t argue. “How’s Neil?” he asked.

Andrew wasn’t sure what his face was doing but he knew he hated it. “He’s good,” he said.

“You haven’t killed each other yet?” Aaron asked.

Andrew thought about their little bubble, just him and Neil, all day, every day. They only rarely had to leave it for games. With anyone else, he would have gone crazy long ago, but with Neil, he’d never been more content. He couldn’t say all that to his brother though. “No.”

Aaron nodded, seeming to pick up on what he wasn’t saying anyway. “I’m glad.”

Silence fell once more, comfortable instead of awkward this time. “Happy birthday, Aaron,” Andrew said finally.

“You too,” Aaron replied. “We could do this again.”

Andrew nodded, the corner of his mouth tipping up into a half smile. “Yeah, we could.”


End file.
